[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19708]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   SHAME ON THE CONGRESS FOR NOT TAKING ACTION ON PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  (Mr. FARR of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to admonish this 
country, it is a shame that we are here talk, talk, talk, and not doing 
anything about prescription drugs.
  My daughter recounted to me a story last Saturday night when she was 
in a pharmacy at midnight on Saturday night, to pick up some pain 
medicine. She told me that the people waiting in line there were 
limited English speaking, about eight families.
  One of the gentlemen was pleading with the pharmacist to sell him at 
least two of the pills that were prescribed, he could not afford the 
whole package, because his infant daughter was sick and needed these 
prescription drugs. But the pharmacist would not sell the drugs to him 
because he could not buy the entire package, the entire dosage which 
the doctors recommend.
  He said, ``I cannot afford it. Give me two now, and I will come back 
in a couple of days and buy the rest of them.'' It went on and on, and 
the pharmacist would not sell it because the process would not allow 
them to do it, and the person could not afford the drugs. He was in 
tears, as any parent would be.
  Shame on America that we cannot take care of people; we cannot even 
disburse those drugs that have been prescribed because people cannot 
pay for them. Shame on the drug companies. Shame on the process. Shame 
on Congress for not correcting it.

                          ____________________